'We should embrace the 40-year national development plan'

A Devleopment Planner, Richard Ellimah has described Ghana’s 40-year development plan which was launched by H.E John Dramani Mahama as a good initiative and must be embraced by all.

The 40-year plan is between the years of 2018 and 2057.His concern was how Ghanaians will accept the plan and help the government achieve its target by the end of the 40 years.Richard Ellimah advised the successive regimes that may assume power in 2016 or later to work within the national plan so that the country’s vision can be achieved.

Speaking on Frontline (Rainbow Radio Morning Show), Richard urged regimes that will be managing the affairs of this country throughout the 40 years period to break down the years to enable complete assessment after every given period within the 40-year plan.

He mentioned that Ghana as a country can’t wait till the 40 years is over before reports are made as to whether the set goals have been achieved or not.

The idea of the plan was born out of the recommendations of the Constitution Review Commission of 2010.

President John Dramani Mahama performed the official launch at Accra International Conference Centre, which had in attendance former Presidents Jerry Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor as well as high-ranking public officials and leaders of political parties, among others.

Ghana has gone through many development plans from long to medium and the short terms, but all failed to achieve their objectives due to various reasons, including military interventions and truncation of the plans by succeeding governments.

The first major plan dates back to colonial rule when under Governor Gordon Guggisberg, a 10-year development programme (1920 to 1930) was developed.

Besides, the CPP’s seven-year Development Plan for National Reconstruction and Development (1963/64-1969/70) valued at the cost of £1,016 million was terminated following the 1966 coup.

Other development plans included the Vision 2020, which fell on the way, the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (2002-2005,) Ghana

Shared Growth and Development Agenda (2010-2013) and the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda II (2014-2017), which is undergoing implementation.

President Mahama, in his keynote address, expressed delight at the general acceptance that the country needed a long-term plan that would provide the antidote to its development challenges.

He said it showed what the nation could achieve, if the people worked together devoid of partisanship and other differences.

In that context, he called on Ghanaians to do away with the pull-him-down syndrome and cynicism, which are counter-productive.

He said governments could have their short-term and medium-term development plans, but such plans could achieve their objectives, if they were situated in a long-term national development plan.

There were vision statements from identifiable organisations, all of them expressing their support for the plan.

The groups included the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Ghana Employers Association, Private Enterprises Foundation, Federation of Association of Ghanaian Exporters and the National Union of Ghana Students.

Others were religious organisations, National House of Chiefs, Ghana Culture Forum, Ghana Journalists Association, Ghana Union of Traders Association and the Council of Indigenous Business Association.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this news report do not necesarily reflect the views of the National Development Planning Commission(NDPC)